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THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD

August 26, 2020 By Leave a Comment

Armando Iannucci, a man possessing a preternatural gift for telling serious stories with a puckish twist, has taken on the classic Dickens tale of David Copperfield, and infused it with sparkling new life while remaining true to the original’s spirit. After all, despite his sometimes cloying sentimentality, Dickens spared his readers nothing when describing the… Read More »

Tagged With: 19th century, book to screen, Charles Dickens, colonialism, color-blind casting, England, imperialism, literature, social commentary

JOKER

January 12, 2020 By Leave a Comment

It is, perhaps, a truism that every generation gets the Batman or Superman that they need/deserve. With Todd Philips’ JOKER, though, we get more than a cultural gloss of the zeitgeist.  We get a funhouse mirror that lurks deep within a house of horrors that is an extrapolation of what happens when the 1% of… Read More »

Tagged With: clown, DC, origin story, riots, social commentary, urban decay

THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE

July 13, 2019 By Leave a Comment

THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE

As a trenchant examination of the roots, expression, and consequences of toxic masculinity, THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE has no peers. As a black comedy told with a straight face and a tone of conviction, it is a first rate guilty pleasure. Any film that can draw guffaws as a small child is gently choked… Read More »

Tagged With: black comedy, coma, cultural criticism, dachshund, karate, motorcycle gang, social commentary, toxic masculinity

DOWNSIZING

December 21, 2017 By 1 Comment

DOWNSIZING

DOWNSIZING is a film that cries out to be admired. Pondered. Parsed. Philosophical propositions and social commentary flit by in a mad whirl of arch observation and deadpan dea as we are invited to consider a veritable cornucopia of topics, all eminently worthy of examination. The class struggle and the human propensity for prejudice; the… Read More »

Tagged With: materialism, Omaha, prejudice, satire, social commentary

Amy Schumer is No TRAINWRECK

July 21, 2015 By 2 Comments

Amy Schumer is No TRAINWRECK

Turning gender roles neatly on their heads, Amy Schumer has created a screwball comedy of considerable substance. Taking sure aim at the abomination of the formula rom-com, she satirizes not just the genre, but the state of contemporary single-hood. Starring in a script of her own devising, she is fearless, relentless, and completely unapologetic as the titular hot mess, also named Amy, with commitment issues and a healthy libido.

Tagged With: Amy Schumer, comedy, debauchery, father-daughter relationship, homelessness, narrative, rom-com, satire, sister relationship, social commentary

A Choppy CHAPPIE

March 6, 2015 By Leave a Comment

A Choppy CHAPPIE

CHAPPIE is a cross between Pinicchio and ROBOCOP with a dash of DISTRICT 9.  That last is unsurprising because CHAPPIE is the brainchild of Neill Blomkamp, and many of the elements at work in that earlier film about the meaning of humanity are at work in this one. The battleground is still South Africa, Blomkamp’s… Read More »

Tagged With: class system, corporate politics, engineering, fantasy, gangsters, race relations, robots, science fiction, social commentary, South Africa

Jason Reitman is UP IN THE AIR

September 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Jason Reitman is UP IN THE AIR

Jason Reitman was in a puckish mood when I talked to him in October of 2009.  UP IN THE AIR had not yet opened, so the critical acclaim and multiple awards hadn’t begun. During a conversation that ranged from the current economic climate, to the putative difficulty of making George Clooney look anything but ravishing, Reitman… Read More »

Tagged With: airline travel, airports, Anna Kendrick, book to film, corporate culture, Danny McBride, dark humor, downsizing, economy, George Clooney, hatchet man, Jason Bateman, Jason Reitman, Melanie Lynskey, Sam Eliot, social commentary, Vera Farmiga, Walter Kirn

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